petergibbons

I'm going to respond to the assertion that we are broke and then proceed to debunk that rumor using reason and logic. I'll apologize ahead of time since those two things are relatively foreign to me. If you look at the headlines today, at least a third of the claim that we are going broke, spending our childrens' future, bankrupt. While moral bankruptcy was arguably a reason our country was founded in the first place, financial bankruptcy is not in the picture. Consider if a staid firm like GE were to go bankrupt. First of all, its fixed income securities would experience a major sell-off, resulting in the yields being pushed into the double, and even triple digits, depending on the severity. At the same time, GE would not be able to raise capital by selling bonds and would have to sell equity instead or consider giving up on capital raising and contract until its yields dropped into a sensible range. Like it or not, the US has been able to sell debt as easily as when we had 6, 7, and even 12% yields, yet our yields are much lower than that. Why is this good? For starters, most of the debt we have sold at very low coupon rates, in the 2-3% range, and like it or not, that money is floating around in the economy. The large investment banks, private investors, Chinese and Saudi overlords, and elderly retirees have been buying our fixed income securities at the not-so-offensive coupon rates of 4% and have not demanded very high yields. We are not experiencing significant inflation as a result of offering debt. Some say that hyperinflation is coming but if people like you and I could see that coming, the market would have already priced it in and we'd be seeing the federal gov't selling securities at the 12-15% coupon rate. Believe me, we're not taking on more debt than we can handle.

Doc, If I'm in DC for work again, I'll look you up. I used to go there quite a lot (Dulles, Tysons Corner, Ft. Meade) but that project ended. Seems like my wife who is 5 months pregnant is doing all the corporate travel now! jonathan

I'm still waiting for the effort to repeal death panels and jail sentences for doctors. Oh wait, that's right. None of that exists.

If you look at the history of the US, for the last 90 years it has been a history of both increasing regulation and increasing prosperity. I don't believe that health care spending has a privileged frame of reference in that it will result in the collapse of our system. The reason we have prosperity in this country is not for fiscal mechanical issues, but rather because we are built on principles of self-determination, detachment from tyranny, and a clear dose of rationality. If you believe ideologues from the far left, you are convinced that George W. Bush is the anti-christ, Obama is the savior, corporations are evil, and we should get rid of capitalism. If you believe ideologues from the far right, you are convinced that Barack Obama is a foreign-born marauder bent on the destruction of the US, and that he will systematically dismantle all of our profitable enterprises. I won't comment on the religious implications since I believe that the religious right hijacked the conservative movement. The fact is neither of these are true. The pendulum does not swing very far in either direction in this country. We do not have the problems of instability that the rest of the world has, unless you believe the ideologues. I can tell you that there is no way to regulate away prosperity and freedom. Having said that, I agree that doctors are getting the short end of the stick by insurance companies. That's a symptom of the problem. Also, a moderate degree of tort reform (believe it or not I am a liberal saying this) would really help doctors lower their costs. I ran out of time writing this post. Time for me to go have four cups of wine.

Hi Jordan, Your quandary is endearing because we have all been there. I was about 25 when I started thinning. If you think you might be thinning and you get started on finasteride at a young age, you will have the most success -- especially in the crown area. Thinning in the front may be helped by Propecia (generic is called Finasteride) but there were not enough scientific studies to tell conclusively). Overall, it is a very benign drug to take. Don't listen to the nonsense about side-effects either. If you are worried about loss of libido you can always stop taking it or take Viagra. I've heard every nonsense about propecia side effects and in 8 years of taking it I have experienced none of them. Currently, my insurance covers generic finasteride, so if you are able to get on your parents' insurance, you can probably get a script for generic finasteride, whose brand name is proscar. Then, cut each table into quarters or fifths (quarter is fine) and take one a day. Without insurance your pharmacy will charge about $90 but that will last four months. If you're in the US, I'd recommend against buying from an international pharmacy without a prescription for two reasons. Reason #1 is that you want to be certain you are getting safe, effective product. Reason #2 is that it is illegal and you don't want to be on the wrong side of a sting operation. I think you're in the perfect age group to benefit from the new insurance reform, and soon you'll be able to buy insurance with prescription drug coverage and then you'll be able to afford proscar. Now, having said all of that, once you get stabilized on a daily tablet, you should start setting aside a little bit of every paycheck into a "me" fund. Do it with direct deposit or get a money market mutual fund or something. Save up for that hair transplant. In 5 years, if you find your hair has regrown naturally, go get yourself a BMW or something If you have lost more hair, you can always use that for an HT, or just get a BMW or something Hope this helps, and hang in there, kiddo.

It will do nothing. Unless you're combining tanning with the procedure. By the way, health care has not and will not be federalized. It's still run by public companies and largely regulated by states.

Here is today, about 6 months post op.

Here is 2 weeks post op in October 2009

I know this sounds crazy, but financing a hair transplant is not a bad idea at all. When you consider that you will have greater confidence, that might pay back many times over in the professional world. You can't put a price on your happiness. If you take a look at GE's Care Credit, they offer an interest free financing period of like 12-18 months. And hey, if you default, they aren't going to shave your head What I did for HT #2 was set up a 7 month time frame, send 'em $178/paycheck and then pay $1200 at the very end for a $6000 surgery. Your hair won't change that much in 7 months if you are taking finasteride, and if it does, they can adjust accordingly. I called it the 'layaway' hair plan. P.S., Bill: I misread "Standby credit card" as stolen credit card. LOL!

My wife is thrilled that I am on here unlike her friends' husbands who are all on chatroulette.

I don't know what your criteria is for admission to HTN. I am certainly pleased. I did check Lexis/Nexis and didn't see any litigation or complaints.

I paid $6000 for 3500 grafts from Dr. Ron Chao. They got 3703 grafts out of my permanent zone. I think he's charging $5000 now. If you view the other posts you can see my results. I really believe in his work.

Hi All, As some of you know, I had a 3703 graft procedure done by Dr. Ronald Chao in September 2009. I'm attaching my progress. The top pic is one week after surgery and the bottom pic is from today. Since I am 5 months post-op should I estimate that this is 40-50% growth or does it look like more? I tried to duplicate the lighting and the wetness of my hair. I got the yaw and roll correct, but not sure about the pitch. Let me know what you think? PG P.S. I am receiving no compensation from Dr. Chao.

Higher resolution

Yep. This is from a few moments ago. I am 5.25 months post op.

Hi All, Today is my 33rd birthday. I am five months post op from my second hair transplant and for the first time ever, I have more hair than I had for the previous birthday. I say if you're going to have a midlife crisis, get an HT instead of a ferrari! The HT won't cost much to maintain and no one will ever steal it. (Of course the Ferrari will get you laid) My wife and I are expecting our first child in August. If it's a boy, I am going to set aside a few hundred bucks every year incase he has to get an HT one day. PG

My motility was lower than normal and my morphology was slightly off nominal. However, this is more likely due to the fact that I took Lexapro and work at a gov't research lab in close proximity to microwave sources. Interestingly enough, my sperm count was at least 175% of normal which means my body may have adjusteted. When I started taking propecia I was not taking the SSRI but I was taking Tegretol XR200 which has been known to affect libido, so there were too many variables. I am contemplating going off the SSRI so that I can get the FAA in Oklahoma city to approve me to fly.

Originally, I was going to call this "How does your wife feel about your HT" but then I decided that would limit the scope of this discussion. I am now four months post op from my second HT, and my wife was very accepting but I sure had to wear her down to get her to believe that I was doing it for myself and not for her. A lot of non-balding folks don't understand that in most cases we do it for ourselves. I don't necessarily believe that people who elect cosmetic procedures have any kind of disability or weakness. Plenty of women with uneven breasts decide to have one or both augmented. Lots of people, present company included, have their teeth professionally whitened or straightened, and yet there is no stigma. Millions of people get their eyes lasered and if you're in the US and have a flexible spending account they will even REIMBURSE you out of your own account. My question is, do some people face an uphill battle with their spouses? If so, how do you deal with it. I understand the financial impact but having hair, even if it is a hair system can translate into a bigger paycheck.

I think if you look even at a non-balding person's head, you will see some see through. My father is 67 years old with no noticable hair loss (NW2 - 2.5) and when his hair is wet you can see scalp. Oh and he's pale like me and has black hair (no greying!) Hair is never as close together as we think it is. If you happen to find yourself in a lot of harsh lighting situations, such as on a TV set or something, you can always use concealers. I really believe some of the hair heart throbs in hollywood (Dempsey, Pitt, etc) all use some kind of concealer even though they are non-balding. It is just like using makeup on stage. So fret not. I am 4 months post my second HT (3703 grafts) and it seems like I will be able to see through but then I realize that hair stacks up on top of itself and you get a lot of density looking down. In front you want a gradual transition zone so it looks natural. Also, finasteride will do wonders. Even if you can not regrow hair, your follicles will start to be released from the death-grip of DHT apoptosis and they will widen a bit, making your hair appear thicker. My father is just.. lucky. I am 32.9 years old and was a slightly diffuse NW3 before my HT in 9/09 and a bit thinner NW3 before my first HT in 3/02. I can still see through if I look enough but most people don't stare at our hair as much as we do. I can look at any guy even a non-balding one and find a bit of thinning. For reference, take a look at Chris O'Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles) He keeps his hair cropped very short because it has thinned. He is a Diffuse (Patterned) Thinner, so he might even have a NW6 pattern but with proper application of Toppik he still gets to be a heart throb. My wife thinks we're all so vain.

Again, I really like Dr. Ron Chao at HairLab. I'm 4 months past my HT in September and the growth is great. I still keep in touch with them. I pm'ed you my cell phone if you want to go with me for my next follup. Cheers, PG

bighosedragger -- hey I took Viagra when I was 21 (1998) and had no problems with it. Ended up not needing it in 2003 when I met my wife Pharmaceuticals help most people. The only reason to get onto herbal meds is if you are trying to pass an FAA medical, which I was able to do recently by switching to St. Johns Wort temporarily.

Sparky, you really don't have to. If it worries you, get a sperm analysis (about $95). If you don't like the numbers, you may try going off finasteride maybe for a few days. Remember, getting pregnant only happens a few days a month. There are so many things other than finasteride that can affect sperm, and you'll be surprised. If your wife is worried about being exposed to it, tell her not to mess with your stash I'm not knowledgeable of the efficacy of saw palmetto.

For a brief time in August of last year, my wife was agonizing about propecia since we decided to start a family. Just to be on the safe side I went to a fertility doctor. Now we're both educated at the graduate level so the whole paranoia about a woman touching propecia is somewhat ridiculous to us. At any rate, I got my sperm analysis and my motility was 18% (Ideal > 25%) and morphology was 9%. I was told that IVF would be our only option and the doctor reiterated that I should not quit finasteride because I have invested so much in my hair. Needless to say, we got pregnant shortly thereafter. I read many many studies and there are no documented cases of birth defects from propecia in humans in the western world. Moreover, the amount of finasteride in ejaculate is tiny in comparison to the amount of diesel fuel, dust, and other nasties that are far more dangerous to a developing fetus. I want you to know that you are safe taking finasteride. If you're worried about loss of libido, you can always take viagra. 25mg every other day and you can have the most spontaneous sex imaginable. I haven't even needed it and I take finasteride PLUS an SSRI, so I should be completely limp, yet I am not, and my wife is 12 weeks pregnant and we're excited about our child. So to quote Peter Gabriel "Don't give up"

I am curious -- I have been taking generic proscar for about a year now. I get it directly from my Vons pharmacy and my wife's insurance covers it so I just make a $5 co-pay for 4 months' supply. Recently they switched me from Barr labs to Teva pharmaceuticals. Can I assume because this is an actual walk-in pharmacy in the US, that they will only sell me FDA approved generics?

Doc, I bruise easily. It was far worse when I had the procedure in my 20s, for only 800 follicular unit grafts. B spot, it took from about 7am until 5pm. We took a break for lunch. Thanks for the porn stache comment My wife said I looked like Hitler, which is really bad because I am a Jew. I was going for the Howard Hughes or Charlie Chaplin look but that was an epic fail. I used 9 sick days from work, and my only public appearance was on Sep 27 for the Abbot Kinney street fare in Venice and I still looked less freakish than most of the people there